


You and Me and Steve

by Chaerring



Category: Captain America (2011), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Explicit Language, F/M, M/M, Multi, Pepper has feelings, Pepper's pov, Steve saves the day, Threesome - F/M/M, so many feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-21
Updated: 2012-06-21
Packaged: 2017-11-08 05:47:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/439815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaerring/pseuds/Chaerring
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The problem wasn't Steve, exactly, just that he was <i>always</i> around.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You and Me and Steve

**Author's Note:**

  * For [coffeebuddha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeebuddha/gifts).



> Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, or the song that inspired this fic and gave it its title: "You and Me and Steve" by Garfunkel and Oates.
> 
> Thank you so much to TheGreatSporkWielder betaing. 
> 
> This one was Coffeebuddha's fault because she has a mild ~~horrific~~ obsession with the titular song. ♥

Pepper wasn't sure what to think when a week before the rebuild of the newly christened Avengers Tower was finished, Steve Rogers showed up in her office requesting to find out where Tony was. Tony was in Malibu, finishing up packing his workshop to bring back to the tower. It would only have resulted in more blood and tears than usual if Tony had continued using the tower workshop while it was being rebuilt, so for the few months of renovations, he had gone back to Malibu. She felt that there was little point in sending Steve out to the other side of the country when Tony would be back in New York at the end of the week. Instead, she installed him in one of the tower guest rooms told him to help himself to the areas that weren't still covered in plaster dust. That, she thought, would be the end of her involvement with the admittedly handsome, but squeaky clean soldier.

Then Tony came back and wrecked all of her carefully laid plans, like he usually did. She had been looking forward to having a quiet stay at home dinner and welcoming him back to the tower enthusiastically, and _privately_. Everything had been working out exactly the way she wanted it to. The food had been delivered on time, Tony wasn't any later than she had expected him to be and he was kissing her like he had genuinely noticed her absence from his side while he was in California. JARVIS ruined it.

"Sir, Captain Rogers heard of your return and is knocking. Shall I let him in?"

Pepper opened her mouth to tell JARVIS to let Steve know Tony would see him later, but unfortunately Tony was faster.

"Steve's here? Pep, why didn't you _tell_ me? Let him in, JARVIS! He can have dinner with us!"

She knew better than to try and dissuade him otherwise, besides it was good that Tony was trying to play well with someone else. She could count the number of times he'd tried so hard to make a friend since she knew him on one hand, so she let the matter slide. 

It wasn't until a week later when Pepper had let Tony drag her spontaneously out of the office for lunch and found Steve _already in the car_ that Pepper realized she might have set a precedent by letting things continue to slide. She needed to find some way to get Tony to herself for more than just a little bit of sex and the small bits of sleep he caught with her. That was the only part of him she still had completely to herself. Tony didn't sleep in front of or around other people. Just Pepper, and she _treasured_ those moments. She treasured the trust he gave to her when he let his guard down and tucked his head into her neck. She would put up with the scratch of his stubble or the tickle of his goatee anytime for that trust.

The problem wasn't Steve, exactly, just that he was _always_ around. Pepper even liked Steve. She liked him a lot. He was kind and sweet and though Tony had the opening doors for her thing down, Steve had that and all the rest of it. He had manners and was drop dead gorgeous, but _goddammit_ she wanted him to stay in his rooms for day so she could fellate Tony on their couch and get him to return the favor without worrying about flashing the walking talking American flag!

Pepper generally saved herself a lot of heartache by being as honest with herself as she could. It was simple to identify that she was jealous of the quick and easy camaraderie and trust between Steve and Tony. It had taken Pepper almost a fucking _decade_ to reach that point with Tony; to be sure that he wouldn't break her heart and she could be strong enough not to walk away and break his. Now, even though she'd only ever seen Tony on such good terms with Rhodey, Steve had somehow wormed his way under Tony's skin in less than a year. Apparently, Pepper should have waited until after the decade mark to trust Tony. She wouldn't hurt so much if she hadn't gotten involved with him. 

She felt Tony's socked foot run along her calf in a ridiculous playful way that wasn't about sex, but simply because he could touch her. He didn't once stop grinning or attempting to explain social networking to Steve. He didn't even look in her direction and Pepper knew that it was only a matter of time. She would play the waiting game and pick up the pieces of her heart while Tony figured out what the hell he was doing with the both of them and finally broke the bad news to her that he was choosing Steve.

Thinking about it in the shower that night, she forced herself into conceding that getting thrown over for Captain America was better than one of Tony's former bimbo one night stands. This time she wouldn't have to worry about someone claiming a love child in nine months or trying to sell sex tapes to any of those ridiculous gossip rags. She would have to put up with the questions herself about how their break up effects their work relationship, but Pepper had been fending questions in that line for a long time. It would be like riding a bike. 

So Pepper waited. She waited one month, then two, and Tony didn't say anything to her about breaking up, but he wasn't seeing Steve behind her back. She would know if he was. Tony couldn't hide when he was getting laid to save his life. Not when they had just had sex, not when he had just had sex with anyone else. It was incomprehensible to her. Steve looked at Tony like he had remade the stars while he was frozen and Tony looked at Steve like he was better than engineering. Pepper couldn't understand why nothing had happened.

It was driving Pepper crazy, to the point where Tony was even noticing circles under her eyes and prodding her gently about her weeks and weeks of vacation time she hadn't touched in only God knew how long. The silly thing was, Pepper could see it. She could see them, not just her and Tony, but her, Tony _and Steve_ resting on a beach not far from a luxurious bungalow. It was like Steve had grown on her affections like a red, white, and blue moss. She had started to automatically plan for him. She caught herself looking at a pair of shoes or a dress and wondering if he'd like to see it on her. 

It was scaring her to think that if Tony didn't start cheating on her with Steve that _she_ would end up cheating on _Tony_ with the captain. 

The absolutely last straw, the one that broke Pepper's back to pieces was when she came home one afternoon from the office early, hoping to maybe surprise Tony while Steve was still doing his work out for the day. Instead of finding Tony in his workshop or Steve in the gym she found them on the living room couch of her and Tony's apartment. Tony had his head in Steve's lap with his nose pressed into his hip and he was _sleeping_. Not just dozing or nodding off, but full out relaxed _sleeping_.

She would have rather caught them fucking each other into the ground. 

Steve smiled at her and made a goddamn _shh-ing_ motion. Pepper lost her grip on her cell phone and it clattered to the ground. She only felt the tiniest bit guilty for the way Tony startled up and off the couch like he had heard gunfire and then she felt horrible because she shouldn't be that petty. She tried to school her face into something like a neutral expression because Steve was beginning to look like someone had killed his dog and Tony looked like someone had just told him the reactor was failing.

"Pepper--"

"I didn't mean to wake you up. Go back to sleep. You need it."

"No. _Pepper_ listen to me--"

She stretched her lips out into what she hoped was a smile, but judging by the worry that crinkled Steve's brow and the wince Tony made she hadn't succeeded.

"Tony. You were taking a nap. There's nothing to explain." 

She bent to pick up her phone thankful Stark phones were the best on the market and had none of that shitty business of searching for the battery and the back of the phone when it was dropped. Tony was coming around the couch when she straightened, but Steve vaulted over the back of the couch nearly taking it down with him and reached her first. Before she knew what was happening she had large warm hands on her arms, gripping her ever so gently and a set of unfamiliar lips pressed to her own. 

Being kissed by Steve was nothing like being kissed by Tony, but also, a little like it at the same time. Physically it was different. Steve's top lip was just a little fuller than Tony's, and the skin surrounding his lips was smoother. He didn't have the rough scratch of facial hair that she was used to. Emotionally, she was surprised to find that her heart fluttered just as much as when Tony kissed her. She had that same quiver and desire. It was one thing to know Steve was attractive, or that he was growing on her. It was another to be confronted full force with the fact that she _wanted_ him, too. Just as much as she wanted Tony.

Steve didn't open his mouth, or seem to expect her to open hers. Pepper had reflexively closed her eyes when he got so close, but taking the chance with her nose smushed a little awkwardly against his cheek, she cracked one of her eyes. It looked like his were closed, and she was pretty sure Tony was frozen with his mouth gaping like a flytrap. After a moment Pepper relaxed just a bit figuring that she could take advantage of Steve's lips if Tony could take advantage of his lap. 

Tentatively, she relaxed her body in his grip. It was easy to feel safe with Steve. He was warm and huge, but still so damn kind _all the time_ and here he was kissing her. Even more hesitantly, she kissed back, shifting so her nose wasn't so uncomfortably positioned and sighing with just barely parted lips as she brought her hands up to his chest. Steve seemed to take that as some sort of cue, because he pulled back with a sheepish smile. Pepper couldn't believe how red his face was, but he didn't stop or saying anything to her. He took two long strides to the left where Tony was still gaping and proceeded to kiss him too. 

Pepper watched, prodding at her feelings trying to figure them out as honestly as she could. She started with the easy things. She didn't hate the sight of them kissing. In fact, being completely honest with herself meant admitting she liked it more than she probably should. Tony was so much shorter than Steve. Hell, Tony was shorter than her, and wouldn't that be an image for JARVIS to capture? Tony standing between the two them. Pepper's heart picked up its flutter again at the thought and she didn't take her eyes away from them, even after Steve finished some invisible count in his head and stepped back. His face still resembled a cherry, but he was also exuding the kind of confidence Pepper had only heard from him in team meetings or when she eavesdropped on the communications line.

"I like you both. A lot. I didn't mean to hurt anyone." 

Pepper caught a glimpse of Tony's face from the corner of her eye and knew he was staring just as intently at Steve as she was. The soldier's face wrenched up into a heartbreaking expression that made her shift on her feet. She wanted to smooth that sorrow away. The desire to do so didn't surprise her as much as she thought it should have.

"Bucky and I--Peggy and I--" 

Steve started and stopped and started again before shaking his head.

"No, that's not what I'm trying to say. We never- None of us made it. We didn't figure it out, but I think...maybe if the two of you like me as much as I like the both of you...."

Pepper wanted to open her mouth and reassure him. She wanted to tell him that they did like him; they liked him _so much_. Did he even begin to understand how big of a deal it was for Tony to sleep on him? Or for Pepper to walk around in shorts without having shaved in four days while he was on their floor? She watched Steve shrug, suddenly deflated by whatever thoughts were going on in his mind. He turned and began walking for the elevator. Pepper cast her eyes to Tony who was making frantic hand motions at her and gaping. She got the message, though. Pepper could almost always get Tony's messages. 

She stepped forward and gripped Steve's elbow with her fingers gently turning him around to face them. Tony had migrated towards her, slinging his arms around her waist by the time the captain had turned around.

"Steve, _stay_."


End file.
